Govt begins steps towards Stolen Generations' apology

PM - Tuesday, 11 December , 2007 18:10:00

Reporter: Daniel Hoare

MARK COLVIN: The long battle over saying sorry may soon be over. It's now clear that in some form the Rudd Government will apologise some time next year for the way Aboriginal children were systematically taken from their parents over the decades.

The new Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, today began formal discussions with Aboriginal leaders in Sydney about what form the apology might take. And she received a warm welcome as she outlined the Rudd Government's aims for reconciliation.

Daniel Hoare reports.

DANIEL HOARE: It's now over 10 years since the Human Rights Commission handed down the Bringing Them Home Report.

That report examined the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and it called for a federal government apology on behalf of all Australians.

In the decade since the report was released, a series of Indigenous and non-Indigenous community leaders became increasingly frustrated by the Howard government, which refused to acquiesce to an apology.

But the election of the Rudd Government has given hope to many.

JENNY MACKLIN: If I can say at this, my first speech with you, how much I look forward to working with you to make so many of your hopes come true.

Thank you.

(clapping)

DANIEL HOARE: Jenny Macklin is the new Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Her speech today to Aboriginal leaders was welcomed by all in attendance, among them the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma.

TOM CALMA: We've got the minister here willing to talk and listen, talk with and listen to Aboriginal people and not a situation where Aboriginal people, as has been expressed in a number of the speeches today, have felt that they are being told what to do in the past and that's gotta stop and governments have got to start listening to those people who are most affected by the policy changes and that's the members of the Stolen Generation.

DANIEL HOARE: It was the job of Jenny Macklin today to begin the process of building a consensus with Aboriginal leaders for an apology.

JENNY MACKLIN: What we want to do is stand together with you and pledge a new relationship, a new relationship that is steady and based primarily on respect.

DANIEL HOARE: Launching a magazine to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bringing Them Home Report, the new minister was optimistic about a new era of cooperation between the Government and Indigenous leaders on the issue of an apology.

JENNY MACKLIN: We have to try to understand the heartache and to listen; to hear what needs to be done to build for the future.

I hope it is the case that we're at a juncture where healing is possible. And I hope that we can build a consensus about the way forward.

DANIEL HOARE: Fred Chaney is a former Liberal minister in the Fraser government and now a director of the group, Reconciliation Australia.

He says that an apology by the Rudd Government will be the final symbolic act in the jigsaw puzzle of reconciliation.

FRED CHANEY: I think it's welcome that the Government has reopened this matter and I think it's particularly welcome that they are discussing the things with the people who are directly affected; the living Aboriginal people whose families were torn asunder by official action.

DANIEL HOARE: There's been some conjecture over the use of the particular word "sorry" and whether or not Kevin Rudd will use that term. How important is it that the word sorry is used in any apology?

FRED CHANEY: Well it's not for me to speak for the Stolen Generations of course, or indeed for Reconciliation Australia to do so, but it does seem to be embedded now that sorry is the critically important word and that for many Aboriginal people it carries layers of meaning that are important to them.

It's perhaps also worth noting that political leaders throughout Australia, including the leaders of the governments that did most of this, that is the State and Territory Governments, have all been prepared to use the word sorry. They've all been prepared to apologies and it hasn't caused the problems which some of the more fearful members of the community seem to think will occur.

DANIEL HOARE: Fred Chaney says despite the fact it's been 10 years in the making, the word sorry will still mean as much now as it ever did.

FRED CHANEY: Well we're talking about many, many decades of abuse in this case. It's never too late. It's never too late while there are living Aboriginal people whose lives have been blighted by this. I think we owe them. And it's mean spirited I think to deny them an apology in terms that are acceptable to them.

MARK COLVIN: Fred Chaney was a Liberal federal minister in the Malcolm Fraser government and is now a director of Reconciliation Australia. He was speaking to Daniel Hoare.